A rooster cawed out across Sweet Apple Acres and roused Applejack from her sleep. Contrary to her well-crafted image in Ponyville, she was not a morning pony.
Darn sun. You couldn’t just skip a day and leave poor ole Applejack alone, now could you?
Applejack rolled over under her covers to escape the morning light peeking in from her window. Burying her face in her pillow, she fell back into a dreamy haze between sleep and consciousness. A wonderfully pleasant feeling that was interrupted by a horribly unpleasant noise.
“Wake up, sis!”
Darn, wake-up call. Why ain’t she sleepin’ in like every other filly her age?
Applejack shoved her forehooves underneath her pillow, let her ears droop to the sides of her head, and rolled the edges up to cover them. It was uncomfortable, but it helped keep the world at bay from yet another sense.
The door burst open and following the sounds of small galloping hooves, Applebloom pounced onto Applejack, shouting, “Wake up!”
“Durn it, Apple Bloom! Just this once! Just this apple pickin’ once let me sleep in!”
“You know, I can’t do that, sis. I’m under strict orders from Granny and Big Mac to get you up every mornin’, grumpy or otherwise.”
“Go tell them I’m still workin’ off my hangover from the reunion. Somepony spiked the cider something fierce.”
“That was two days ago.” Apple Bloom started nudging Applejack every second and said, “It ain’t happenin’.”
“Ugh…” moaned Applejack.
“Wakeup. Wakeup. Wakeup. Wakeup. Wakeup. Wakeup. Wake–”
“Alright already!”
Rolling over again and bending at the barrel, Applejack flew up and threw Apple Bloom off her and onto the floor where the filly landed with the grace of experience. Obviously contented, Apple Bloom turned to leave.
“I’ll be down soon as I get showered up. You tell Big Mac to save some breakfast for me, you hear?” said Applejack, yawning and rubbing her eyes.
“Sure thing, sis.”
Applejack entered the dinning room in a sleepy haze. She had tried taking a cold shower but nothing seemed to be helping this morning. Even with a full day of rest yesterday, her muscles were still aching to return to bed so soon after the family reunion.
Lazily taking her seat, Applejack found herself left with a pair of flapjacks, a glass of apple juice, and a bowl of oats in milk.
Ain’t exactly my favorite. Suppose I can’t complain what with being this late.
Except for the clink of silverware hitting plates and the squeak of her chair, there was only one other noise while Applejack ate. A terribly annoying noise at this early hour.
Granny Smith was snoring in the living room.
Sighing, Applejack picked up her pace to get away from thoughts of sleep.
This place is messier than a pigsty.
That was Applejack’s first thought as she opened the barn doors. The family gathering had not been kind to the first floor. Remains of food littered the ground and makeshift beds of hay were haphazardly placed everywhere. There was even a cow eating one of them.
The upstairs storage was still packed with items rescued from Apple Bloom’s clubhouse, but from the look of things, a reordering had been undertaken since yesterday.
“Sugarcube, you up there?” Applejack half-shouted.
“Yeah!” replied Apple Bloom.
“You’re supposed to be cleanin’ the barn!”
“I was, but…I got distracted!”
“You better not be wirin’ things up inside the barn again!”
“I’m not! Honest!”
Deciding to get a firsthoof look at whatever trouble her sister was making, Applejack ascended the ladder to the second floor. Once she reached the top, she had to shuffle around piles of junk in order to walk anywhere. Apple Bloom only had cleared a path large enough for herself.
After Applejack shifted a box of old blueprints, Apple Bloom finally came into view. She was lying on the floor with a quill gripped in her forehoof with her magic and a vial of ink nearby. In front of her was a mostly empty sheet of draft paper. Some trees and dimensions were depicted and a few notes appeared on the sides, but it was otherwise empty.
Apple Bloom gave a weak smile and sighed, “Hey, sis.”
“What are you drawin’ up? A new clubhouse?”
Apple Bloom shook her head slowly and then said, “A lab.”
Taken by surprise, Applejack echoed, “A lab?”
“A lab.”
“What in tarnation do you need a lab for? If you burn down Sweet Apple Acres, there’s gonna be a mighty reckonin’ comin’.”
Apple Bloom said nothing, opting instead to make a note on the paper that read, “Do not burn down home.”
“Hey, sugarcube,” Applejack said, concern lining her voice, “what’s wrong?”
“Nothin’,” deadpanned Apple Bloom as she continued working.
“Nothin’ my hoof. You’ve obviously got somethin’ on your mind.” Applejack sat down next to her sister. “Why don’t you tell your big sis what’s wrong?”
“Nothin’s wrong. I’m just thinkin’.”
“Now don’t you go lyin’ to your sis, now. Why are you doin’ this?”
Apple Bloom threw her quill at the ground and snapped the tip, shouting, “Cause I don’t need a clubhouse anymore! Happy?”
Once the shock died down, Applejack immediately pulled her sister in for a hug. A few sniffs later and Apple Bloom started crying into Applejack’s coat.
Patting her sister on the back, Applejack whispered, “Don’t you worry none, sugarcube. Your friends ain’t goin’ away forever. You’ll see them again before you know it. Just let it all out till you’re feelin’ better.”
Seconds turned to minutes and those minutes rolled on and on as the two sisters hugged one another for support. Apple Bloom’s tears were pulling Applejack toward less savory thoughts herself.
“You know, two of my own friends are movin’ too. I’m sure gonna miss Rarity and Dash. Even if Dash pilfers our apples and Rarity tries to shove her froufrou nonsense onto me. But we’ve promised each other to stay in touch and get together for visits every now and then. I’m sure both’ll have Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo with them when they come visitin’.”
“I know,” Apple Bloom said, though it came out muffled by the hug. “And Sweetie Belle has all sorts of nifty tricks to talk with me, but it just ain’t the same. And it’ll never be the same again.
“Scoots is off to some fancy school to become the best of the best. And I know she can do it. Even without her wings, she’s gonna do it.
“Sweetie Belle’s got herself somepony who’s probably the best teacher for her in the entire world. She’ll be as famous as the archmage and the princess when she’s grown up.
“And where does that leave me? Just some filly from the Apple family. Even if Granny gave me the farm and the family nobility, it wouldn’t mean a thing to them. I’d just be some noble with a dumb accent that they used to know when they were borin’ old normal ponies.”
“Apple Bloom…that’s…that’s not how friendship works. Your friends won’t care if you’ve got nothin’ to offer them. They’re your friends, Apple Bloom, and they’re always gonna be.”
Pushing away from Applejack, Apple Bloom said, “Don’t try that with me, sis. I know that’s not how the world works as sure as I know Princess Celestia raises the sun. Maybe in an ideal world it’d be like that, but not in this one.
“I’m just a filly, but Ponyville’s a small town. I pay attention to what happens to relationships round these parts. We even tried for pony watchin’ cutie marks once. I – I don’t wanna let them go, sis. I don’t…”
“Apple Bloom–”
The filly in question turned her back and said, “No, I’m not listenin’.”
An pregnant silence grew, broken only by the occasional sniff from Apple Bloom.
“…Is that why you’re buildin’ a lab?”
Apple Bloom nodded. “It’s the only thin’ I’m good at that nopony else is. Maybe if I work hard enough, I’ll be interestin’ and important too. It’s not like I’m short on bits or anythin’ with the royalties.”
Granny Smith is the custodian of your income though… She’s not gonna be too keen on this, Applejack thought but did not have the heart to say anything. Maybe if I don’t mention her motivation…
“I–” Applejack began but faltered for words. “I’m glad to see you interested in learnin’…I guess. I’ll talk to you about this again tonight when you’re in a better mood.”
A rush of apples fell toward the ground under the force of Applejack’s buck. The baskets placed at the bottom of the tree altered the paths of the apples so they would land gently in a pile inside the containers. No bruises. No mess.
Nearby were a dozen farm hooves. Half were also bucking apples. The other half were running filled baskets to a mostly empty apple cart and bringing the empty baskets to the next tree that needed them.
At a tree behind Applejack, Big Mac was bucking trees as stoically as ever alongside her.
Sighing, Applejack moved to the next tree and gave it an extra hard kick to let her frustration out. Apple Bloom’s words rarely had left her mind since she left the barn and whenever they did, she kept worrying about her own friendships with Rarity and Dash.
She never really got to know the mare, but she had heard that Fluttershy was moving away as well. Even Pinkie Pie was oddly distant.
Now that I think about it, has anypony even seen Pinkie Pie round about lately?
Something definitely was turning Ponyville upside down. Even the usual string of disasters had abated recently. That could not be a good sign.
Sighing again, Applejack turned to her brother and said, “Hey, Big Mac. Do you ever get the feelin’ that there’s some big story goin’ on that you’ve been right left out of?”
Big Mac aborted a buck he was about to give to a tree and looked suddenly thoughtful. He put his forehoof to his jaw and rubbed it slowly, string into space the whole time.
Finally, he said, “Eenope,” and went back to bucking trees.